Five Minutes With: Vancouver Indie Band The Brahmankind

Hailing from the vibrant city of Vancouver, Canada, The Brahmankind stands as a dynamic five-piece indie alternative rock band, pulsating with an eclectic fusion of musical influences drawn from diverse cultures and genres. The amalgamation of their artistic explorations births a captivating sonic tapestry that oscillates between high-energy grooves designed to ignite the senses, tender and soul-soothing ballads crafted to offer solace to the weary, scintillating guitar and organ solos that set hearts ablaze, intricate rhythms that defy convention, captivating harmonies that enthral the senses, and the occasional infusion of raw, impassioned screamo elements that add a touch of visceral intensity to their unparalleled musical narrative.

The Brahmankind

Name:

The Brahmankind

Genre:

Whimsy Prog / Alt Rock

Founded:

2022

Latest Single:

Pick up the Pieces

Latest Video:

Favourite musician growing up:

Dominik: Marian Varga and Collegium Musicum

Jaya: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyle: Linkin Park, I was obsessed with them as a teenager and still have all their albums, although Meteora is still my favourite by far.

Sanish: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sara: The Beatles, Cat Stevens

Favourite musician now:

Dominik: Keeps changing every five minutes (from Rammstein to Danny Elfman)

Jaya: The Beatles

Lyle: That is difficult, but I would probably say Eluveitie. I also really like some other metal/folk metal bands like Aether Realm, While She Sleeps, Children of Bodom, Korpiklaani and Insomnium.

Sanish: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sara: My friends

Guilty pleasure song:

Dominik: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Jaya: Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar

Lyle: Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65, but I can hardly call it a guilty pleasure since it is undeniably the greatest song of all time.

Sanish: Stronger (Kanye West version); it’s a nice one to get in the zone!

Sara: No guilt: You Are My Sunshine, it was my first favourite song

Live show ritual:

Dominik: Walking around and humming to myself

Jaya: Eat something yummy, smoke a couple of spliffs, drink a beer, get in “the zone”

Lyle: I like to sit in the corner and nervously play chromatic scales on my bass.

Sanish: Load a hatchback with all our gear like Tetris! Utmost precision required

Sara: Something small to eat (usually fast food burger) and a preshow cigarette

Favourite local musician:

Dominik: The flautist at New Westminster Skytrain station, sorry I don’t know his name

Jaya: Math Bat

Lyle: Quasicosm because their guitar playing is amazing and playing shows with them is the best

Sanish: Heartset

Sara: Snaught, Emma Goldman, New Age Doom it’s tough to pick one.

EP or LP?

Dominik: Recently EP, but I grew up on long concept albums, just haven’t heard too many good ones recently to be honest.

Jaya: LP

Lyle: LP, most good EPs just feel too short for me, and I still love the experience of buying a full album from an artist I like.

Sanish: LP

Sara: LP

Early bird or night owl?

Dominik: Recently both. I sleep on Friday.

Jaya: Night owl

Lyle: Night owl, I think that comes with being a musician since so many of our shows are late at night, meaning waking up the next day is never fun.

Sanish: Early Bird, Just the thought of Breakfast alone wakes me up 7 AM every day!

Sara: Recently night owl

Road or studio?

Dominik: I guess the studio, it’s the creative part (even though we improvise a lot during the live shows), many times more challenging, but it’s something that stays and I have plenty of time to experiment (we record at our home studio).

Jaya: Road

Lyle: Road for sure. Travelling and seeing new places has always been my favorite thing and getting to do it with the band is always amazing.

Sanish: Road

Sara: Road

Any shows or albums coming up?

We recently released the single “Pick up the Pieces”, listen on all streaming platforms!

About the song: “Pick up the Pieces” is a testament to the shared humanity among individuals, tailor-made for those melancholic rainy nights and contemplative lonely walks—a companion for those seeking solace in music’s embrace.

Upcoming Show: Dec 15 The Fox

Where can we follow you?

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube

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Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Dominik: Pizza Garden.

Jaya: Rozzini’s, love the Greek/Italian fusion, and just down the street from us.

Lyle: Pizza Town & Indian Grill in Coquitlam. This place has amazing food but is also a bit nostalgic for me since I have a lot of fun memories of parties with friends where we ordered food from here.

Sanish: L&R Pizza and Curry (a hidden gem for Indian cuisine!)

Sara: Donair Star, Ki Sushi.

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Dominik: 6th Street, New Westminster; I like the buildings.

Jaya: Commercial Drive, reminds me a little bit of Berlin, “dirty but sexy”, and a bit hippie.

Lyle: In Vancouver, it is probably Main Street since there are so many good Venues and Stores, and it’s close to lots of great Breweries.

Sanish: 6th street (booze, weed, live music, bubble tea, antiques!)

Sara: Columbia Street: House of Comedy, Georgie’s open mic, access to the rest of New West. Or Granville in Vancouver, kind of a hub, a good walking street.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Dominik: Victoria Park, people drink beer and play games, but I was always only walking through.

Jaya: Pier Park in New West, used to hang out there by the water and the market after music school.

Lyle: Not sure if this counts as, but Belcarra Regional Park has always been my favourite. It has some great hikes and being there really feels like being outside of the city, which is why I love going there so much.

Sanish: Queens Park! Played basketball there for the longest time!

Sara: Waterfront esplanade/pier park in New West because of the water, variety of people, public washrooms, yummy food. Victory Square in Vancouver, because of the juxtaposition of past and present and the free music events going on this summer!

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Dominik: LanaLou’s. It’s not huge, but they care and I like the sound.

Jaya: LanaLou’s Rock n’ Roll Eatery.

Lyle: In New West it is Bullys for sure, they always have great shows and are an especially fun venue to play at. If we are counting anywhere in the Vancouver area however it is the Cobalt, that place always has so many awesome metal shows and is especially great for seeing popular and touring metal bands in a much more intimate/small setting instead of a large theatre.

Sanish: Red Gate.

Sara: Bully’s in New West or Red Gate if Vancouver, for the community there, also I like the medium sized venues.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Dominik: With my budget, it’s Amazon and thrift stores haha, but at least you can find a lot of original and cool stuff, so I guess it’s not only because of prices.

Jaya: Long & McQuade.

Lyle: Long & McQuade in Vancouver, I like this place since they always have a great selection of basses and it’s a great place to try out instruments.

Sanish: Long and McQuade Surrey! I’ve been renting drum breakables from there for over a year now and I’ve made quite some friends there along the way! Guess it just feels homely.

Sara: Music Madhouse Records in Burnaby because Rob sells local records at no commission. Long and McQuade, or Bonerattle music for supplies.

 

About Emilea Semancik 193 Articles
Emilea Semancik was born in North Vancouver. Emilea has always always wanted to work as a freelance writer and currently writes for the Vancouver Guardian. Taking influence from journalism culture surrounding the great and late Anthony Bourdain, she is a recipe author working towards publishing her own series of books. You can find her food blog on Instagram: